CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Archaeology

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the effects of the reduction in the budget of English Heritage for 2011-12 on its support for archaeology and associated activities.

John Penrose: English Heritage has made every effort to minimise the effects of the reduction in its budget for 2011-12 on its support for archaeology and associated activities. It has done this by protecting, so far as possible, its advisory services to local authorities, and its listing, scheduling and other designation activities. In addition, it has carried out a root and branch re-organisation of its processes for prioritising resources to understand and protect heritage, and has maintained the National Heritage Commissions Programme, through which it supports the work of others, at the highest possible level.

Olympic Delivery Authority

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many businesses based in the London borough of Bexley have obtained contracts from the Olympic Delivery Authority to date.

Hugh Robertson: As of April 2011 the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) had directly awarded contracts to seven suppliers registered in the London borough of Bexley. These figures only account for the contracts awarded by the ODA to its own top tier of contractors (tier one contractors). The figures do not include the contracts further down the supply chain, in tiers two, three and so on, which are awarded by the tier one contractors and not by the ODA. The ODA estimates that tens of thousands more contracts will be generated throughout its supply chains. More information on businesses that have won Games-related contracts can be found at the business section of the London 2012 website:
	http://www.london2012.com/business

WALES

Enterprise Zones

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the effects on the economy of introducing enterprise zones in Wales;
	(2)  what recent discussions she has had with the Welsh Assembly Government on the establishment of enterprise zones in Wales.

David Jones: Economic development is a devolved matter in Wales and any detailed assessment of the impact of enterprise zones on Wales would need to be carried out by the Welsh Assembly Government.
	However, it is vital that we give Welsh businesses the same competitive advantages as businesses in places like Bristol and Liverpool, where we have already committed to introducing enterprise zones.
	The Secretary of State for Wales, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs Gillan), has therefore had initial discussions with the First Minister and has also written to him on two occasions setting out our commitment to work with the Welsh Assembly Government to establish enterprise zones in Wales.
	Both my right hon. Friend and I will continue to champion the creation of enterprise zones in Wales with the new Welsh Assembly Government now the Welsh elections have concluded.

Small Businesses

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress the Government have made on introducing tax incentives for small businesses in Wales.

Cheryl Gillan: The Government are committed to providing the necessary support to small businesses in Wales through a number of initiatives, including tax incentives.
	We have reduced the small profits rate of Corporation Tax for small companies from 21% to 20%. We have increased the lifetime limit on gains eligible for Entrepreneurs’ Relief from £5 million to £10 million, encouraging entrepreneurs who want to expand their businesses and reinvest their gains. We have also extended the current small business rates relief holiday for one year from October 2011.
	To encourage investment in businesses with the highest growth potential, we announced a reform of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Tax scheme. Subject to State aid approval, the rate of income tax relief for EIS will be increased to 30%. We also announced a reform of the R&D tax credits scheme which will see, subject to State aid approval, the SME rate increased to 200% from April 2011 and 225% from April 2012.
	The Government have also asked the Office of Tax Simplification to undertake a review examining small business’ experience of tax administration and recommending possible reforms ahead of the 2012 Budget.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Serious Fraud Office

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Attorney-General what plans he has for the future of the Serious Fraud Office; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Grieve: Decisions have not yet been made on future structures for economic crime. The Secretary of State for the Home Department, in consultation with the Law Officers and other relevant colleagues, is currently considering options for delivering the Government's commitment to take white-collar crime as seriously as other crime.

Serious Fraud Office

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Attorney-General if he will place in the Library a copy of each item of advice he has received from (a) officials in his Department, (b) the OECD and other UK or international governmental agencies, (c) private organisations and individuals, (d) the Director of the Serious Fraud Office and (e) others on the future arrangements for (i) investigating and (ii) prosecuting serious financial crimes committed in (A) the UK and (B) by UK citizens or companies abroad.

Dominic Grieve: Officials' advice to Ministers relating to policy advice within Government is covered Under Exemption 2—internal discussion and advice—of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. It would therefore not be appropriate to place it in the Library.
	The responsibility for releasing any other advice on this issue that may have been submitted to my office by outside organisations or individuals would fall to them to make public should they wish to do so.

JUSTICE

Bill of Rights

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the Commission on a Bill of Rights will have powers to take evidence from external parties.

Kenneth Clarke: The terms of reference for the Commission on a Bill of Rights state that the Commission should consult with the public, the judiciary and the devolved Administrations and legislatures. It will be for the Commission to decide what it needs to do in order to fulfil its terms of reference.

Bill of Rights

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the minutes of the meetings of the Commission on a Bill of Rights will be published.

Kenneth Clarke: It will be for the Commission to determine whether it publishes the minutes of its meetings.

Bill of Rights

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on what dates the Commission on a Bill of Rights is scheduled to meet.

Kenneth Clarke: The dates on which the Commission will meet is a matter for the Commission itself to determine.

Bill of Rights

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the members of the Commission on a Bill of Rights will receive remuneration for their contribution.

Kenneth Clarke: Yes. The members of the Commission will receive remuneration for the work they do to fulfil the Commission's terms of reference.

Bill of Rights

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what funding has been allocated for the Commission on a Bill of Rights.

Kenneth Clarke: The Commission's budget for 2011-12 is £97,500 plus £66,000 for the Commissioners' remuneration. We will expect the Commission to make efficient use of its resources in the light of the constraints imposed by the spending review.

Departmental Legal Costs

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department paid in (a) damages, (b) claimant costs and (c) defendant costs in respect of all civil claims brought against his Department in which the claimant was successful or the Department settled in each of the last three years.

Jonathan Djanogly: The information requested is not held centrally or recorded in a manner that is easily retrievable to provide a full factual reply to this question. It could be obtained only by manually sifting through files and invoices for the last three years at a disproportionate cost.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he plans to reply to the letter of 25 January 2011 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Caroline Woods.

Kenneth Clarke: I apologise for the delay in responding. I will ensure that the right hon. Member receives a reply shortly.

Prison Service: Resignations

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) principal officers, (b) senior officers, (c) prison officers and (d) operational support grades employed at each prison left the Prison Service in the last 12 months.

Crispin Blunt: Information on the number of principal officers, senior officers, prison officers and operational support grades employed at each Prison Service establishment within the National Offender Management Service that left between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2011 is contained in a table I have placed in the House Library.
	Information in respect of contracted establishments is provided by individual contractors. Grading structures may vary.

Prisons: Manpower

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the operational staffing requirement was for (a) operational managers, (b) principal officers, (c) senior officers, (d) prison officers, (e) operational support grades and (f) other grades at each prison establishment on 31 March 2011; and what the staff in post figure for each such group was on that date.

Crispin Blunt: Information on the operational staffing requirement for operational managers, principal officers, senior officers, prison officers, operational support grades and all other grades at each prison establishment within the National Offender Management Service on 31 March 2011 is contained in a table I have placed in the House Library.
	Information in respect of contracted establishments is provided by individual contractors. Grading structures may vary.

Prisons: Private Sector

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) prison custody officers and (b) other staff are employed at each private sector prison; what the prison population was at each such prison on 31 March 2011; and if he will make a statement.

Crispin Blunt: Information on the number of prison custody officers and other staff employed at each private sector prison establishment within the National Offender Management Service on 31 March 2011 is contained in the following table. The table also provides prison population figures for each establishment at the end of March.
	Information for contracted establishments is provided by individual contractors.
	
		
			 Prison custody officers, other staff and prison population—private sector establishments—end March 2011 
			 Establishment Prison custody officer Other grades Total staff Population  (1) 
			 Altcourse 321 218 539 1,139 
			 Ashfield 146 311 457 357 
			 Bronzefield 145 164 309 522 
			 Doncaster 204 327 531 1,102 
			 Dovegate 262 306 568 1,109 
			 Forest Bank 258 252 510 1,363 
			 Lowdham Grange 212 237 449 935 
			 Parc 305 410 715 1,453 
			 Peterborough 257 228 485 980 
			 Rye Hill 141 115 256 622 
			 Wolds 102 106 208 353 
			 Private sector total 2,353 2,674 5,027 9,935 
			 (1) Population figures are for 25 March 2011

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Libya: Overseas Aid

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the cost to the public purse has been of aid operations in Libya since February 2011; and what proportion of such aid has been distributed (a) through the EU, (b) through UN agencies and (c) bilaterally.

Andrew Mitchell: The Department for International Development (DFID) has contributed £13.4 million through international humanitarian agencies including the United Nations. This has helped fly home over 12,700 migrant workers from the borders, provided emergency shelter for up to 12,000 people driven out of their homes by the fighting, funded the emergency evacuation of 5,000 people from Misrata, and supplied urgently needed food, medical supplies and medical personnel. DFID has also contributed around £5.25 million through the European Commission (EC). In addition, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has contributed £500,000 to the United Nations Department for Political Affairs for activity to encourage a positive political and stabilisation process in Libya.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid his Department has provided to Palestinian people (a) through the EU, (b) through UN agencies and (c) directly in each of the last three years; and what proportion of such aid went to (i) Palestinian refugees, (ii) Gaza and (iii) the West Bank.

Alan Duncan: The table shows how much aid the UK has provided to the Palestinian people over the last three years through our imputed share of European Union (EU) aid spending in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs); through UN agencies such as the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), World Food Programme and UN Mines Action Services; and through bilateral programming which includes both financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and various projects across the OPTs,
	Our support to Palestinian refugees is provided through UNRWA and helps provide basic services, such as education, health care and social services, to Palestinian refugees across the OPTs, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. The figure for UK support to refugees through the EU is estimated from the proportion of EU support to UNRWA relative to its total support to the OPTs.
	It is not possible fully to disaggregate UK aid to Gaza and to the West Bank. For example, our financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA), via a World Bank Trust Fund, helps pay for basic services and salaries of public sector workers in both Gaza and the West Bank. The table disaggregates Gaza-specific assistance (such as support for humanitarian and early recovery activity) where it is possible to do so. EU assistance to the OPTs is similarly provided via a variety of instruments, and from the information available it is not possible to disaggregate between Gaza and the West Bank.
	
		
			   2008 % 2009 % 2010 % 
			 EU (imputed share)  €64.69 million — €72.52 million — €51.79 million — 
			  Refugees €10.64 million 16 €23.73 million 33 €9.45 million 18 
			  Gaza and West Bank €54.05 million 84 €48.79 million 67 €42.34 million 82 
			         
			 UN Agencies  £19 million — £32.88 million — £33.73 million — 
			  Refugees £19 million 100 £24.93 million 76 £27 million 80 
			  Gaza £0 0 £7.95 million 24 £6.73 million 20 
			  West Bank £0 0 £0 0 £0 0 
			         
			 Other support  £59.55 million — £47.64 million — £57.64 million — 
			  Refugees £0 0 £0 0 £0 0 
			  Gaza £2 million 3 £13.45 million 28 £0.90 million 1.5 
			  West Bank £0 0 £0 0 £4.4 million 7.5 
			  West Bank and Gaza £57.55 million 97 £34.19 million 72 £52.34 million 91

CABINET OFFICE

Departmental Procurement

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether he has made an estimate of the number of (a) ongoing and (b) planned (i) research projects and (ii) statistical data collections that have been cancelled or curtailed across Government since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: Information on ongoing and planned research projects and statistical data collections that have been cancelled or curtailed across government since May 2010 is not held centrally. However, I understand that the National Statistician has requested that departments inform her of cessations of statistical outputs and of any consultations around statistical outputs and statistical work programmes and that the UK Statistics Authority are monitoring this.

Departmental Procurement

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent assessment he has made of the contribution of (a) research projects and (b) statistical data collections in evaluating the value for money of public spending; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: The contribution of research projects and statistical data collections in evaluating value for money of public spending is not held centrally.

Newspaper Licensing Agency: Fees

Martin Horwood: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much his Department has paid in fees to (a) the Newspaper Licensing Agency and (b) the Consumer Licensing Agency in the most recent financial year for which figures are available.

Francis Maude: License fees paid by the Cabinet Office to the (a) Newspaper Licensing Agency (NLA); and (b) Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) for the most recent year for which figures are available were: (a) £1,176.40 (exc. VAT) to the NLA for the period November 2009-October 2010; and (b) £21,925.00 (exc. VAT) to the CLA for the period July 2009-June 2010.

Sheffield

John Mann: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many invitations he has received to visit Sheffield in 2011 to date.

Francis Maude: I have no record of receiving any invitations to visit Sheffield in 2011.

Sheffield

John Mann: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what representations he has received from individuals and organisations within the Sheffield City region on the coordination of Government policy and its implications for that region.

Francis Maude: I refer the hon. Member to the list of official meetings by Ministers with external organisations which is published on a quarterly basis, in accordance with the Ministerial Code.

Sheffield

John Mann: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when he last visited Sheffield in an official capacity.

Francis Maude: I have not visited Sheffield in an official capacity since the formation of this Administration on 11 May 2010.

TRANSPORT

Biofuels: Exports

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has spent on research into Britain's capacity to export biofuel overseas in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Baker: holding answer 3 May 2011
	The Department for Transport has not undertaken research specifically looking at Britain's capacity to export biofuel overseas.
	The Renewable Fuels Agency's (RFA) annual reports include a section on the effects of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) in the UK, including impacts of the RTFO on UK business. The RFA annual reports can be found at:
	http://www.renewablefuelsagency.gov.uk/rtfo
	In addition, as part of their Renewable Energy Statistics work, Department for Energy and Climate Change completed research in July 2010 on the UK Production of Biofuels for Transport in 2009. This covered UK production capacity and biofuels end markets.

Departmental Responsibilities

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of the existing workforce of his Department's Shared Service Centre he expects to be required to run the Centre after its privatisation.

Norman Baker: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 4 May 2011, Official Report, columns 760-61W.

Driving Tests

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will consider the merits of changes to the driving test so that the test is taken in two parts and includes a probationary period; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Penning: Our learning to drive arrangements already provide for people to train in a protected environment using a provisional licence. Also the driving test is already conducted in two parts, a computer-based theory test and a practical driving test. Research indicates that learner car drivers typically take around a year to qualify.
	Our policy is to avoid additional regulation whenever possible, and we would be very concerned about imposing any regulation that reduced the mobility of young people who had acquired their full licence, because of the impact that it would have on their participation in the labour market and in further and higher education.

M5: Worcestershire

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what noise mitigation measures for the M5 in Worcestershire the Highways Agency has (a) prepared and (b) implemented.

Michael Penning: In 1999 the Highways Agency prepared a list of locations on the motorway and trunk road network in England most seriously affected by noise. The list was published on 11 November 1999, Official Report, columns 681-83W. No locations on the M5 in Worcestershire were identified.
	The management of noise issues is currently being reviewed as a result of the European environmental noise directive, introduced into UK legislation in October 2006 through the environmental noise regulations. The lead Department for this is the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The regulations require strategic noise maps and action plans to be prepared for urban areas and major roads, railways and airports. The mapping and action plan process is being undertaken on a five year cycle.
	DEFRA published noise maps for England's roads on 16 May 2008 and the corresponding noise action plans were formally adopted by the Secretary of State for DEFRA on 15 March 2010. The action plans set out a framework for managing noise rather than propose specific mitigation measures. They have been designed to identify ‘Important Areas’ that are impacted by noise from major sources and therefore must be investigated. The action plans also require those ‘Important Areas’ that contain ‘First Priority Locations’ to be investigated as a priority.
	DEFRA is producing maps of Important Areas, identifying those which include First Priority Locations and those which do not. The Highways Agency will examine these locations over the coming years, taking into account current Government policy on noise mitigation and available funding.
	There are 10 First Priority Locations in Worcestershire: three between Junctions 4 and 4a, three between Junctions 4a and 5, one between Junctions 5 and 6, two between Junctions 6 and 7 and one between Junctions 7 and 8.
	In the present economic climate, the Highways Agency is not able to take action for noise mitigation reasons alone but, whenever resurfacing of its network becomes due as part of the normal maintenance cycle, a material with quiet noise properties is used. No major maintenance schemes are programmed for Worcestershire in the foreseeable future.

Motor Vehicles: Registration

Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what assessment has been made of the effects of the issuing of new vehicle registration documents to stretched limousines which have not passed the single vehicle approval test;
	(2)  how many stretched limousines have been issued with a new vehicle registration document that have not previously passed the single vehicle approval test;
	(3)  how many stretched limousines issued with a new vehicle registration document have subsequently failed the single vehicle approval test.

Michael Penning: There are around 7,500 limousines currently on the road. Of these, 175 appear not to have had the evidence required to demonstrate they fully meet the standard provided at the time of their registration. There is no information held on how many of these have since failed a single vehicle approval test.
	The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency and local authorities have responsibility for enforcing the standards on construction and use of these vehicles on the road. This includes periodic roadworthiness testing, on-road spot checks, operator licensing compliance and local authority licensing standards where the vehicles are used for hire and reward. These arrangements are considered sufficient to mitigate any road safety risks that may be associated with the use of these 175 vehicles.

Motor Vehicles: Registration

Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department has taken to inform the owners of stretched limousines about the requirement to pass the single vehicle approval test.

Michael Penning: The Department for Transport does not routinely notify owners of the technical construction requirements to be met prior to registering a vehicle in Great Britain. The relevant regulations are publicly available and manufacturers and importers, or their appointed representatives, usually deal with compliance issues before the owner takes delivery of the vehicle.
	In the case of stretched limousines, the Department identified a general lack of awareness by importers and issued Guidance for Operators in early 2008. This is available from the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) and the Department's website at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/taxis/

Motor Vehicles: Testing

Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consideration he has given to requiring motorists to display proof of a valid MOT on their vehicles.

Michael Penning: The benefits of such a requirement would be outweighed by the costs that it would impose. The Police and Vehicle Operator and Services Agency (VOSA) can already determine whether a vehicle has a valid MOT by checking against the MOT database. In addition, a vehicle must have a valid MOT (if required) for its keeper to be issued with a vehicle excise duty disc.

Rescue Services: Milford Haven

Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many call outs were received by Milford Haven Coastguard in (a) 2008, (b) 2009 and (c) 2010.

Michael Penning: The Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Milford Haven co-ordinated responses to the following incidents (those graded as Alert, Distress and Uncertainty):
	
		
			  Number of incidents 
			 2008 680 
			 2009 770 
			 2010 774

Roads: Accidents

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the average cost to the public purse of a (a) fatality, (b) serious injury and (c) slight injury caused through an accident involving a vehicle in the last year for which figures are available.

Michael Penning: The values for preventing fatalities and injuries used by the Department for Transport are published in unit 3.4.1. of its transport appraisal guidance (WebTAG), available at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/webtag/documents/expert/unit3.4.1.php
	Table 3, as follows, presents the components that make up these values. The direct costs to the public purse comprise medical and ambulance costs, and police costs.
	
		
			 Table 3: Average value of prevention of road accidents by severity and element of cost—June 2009 
			 £ 
			  Casualty related costs Accident related costs 
			 Accident severity Lost output Medical and ambulance Human costs Police cost Insurance and admin Damage to property Total 
			 Fatal 596,674 5,615 1,175,101 1,848 291 10,674 1,790,203 
			 Serious 23,767 14,244 161,713 245 181 4,907 205,056 
			 Slight 2,959 1,253 14,090 57 110 2,903 21,372 
			 All injury 13,225 3,055 48,546 105 122 3,270 68,323 
			 Damage only — — — 3 52 1,828 1,883

Roads: Lighting

Duncan Hames: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has made an assessment of the potential (a) financial and (b) carbon savings of (i) a reduction in the density of lighting on main road and motorway routes and (ii) switching off lighting on sections of main road and motorway routes where there is a good safety record and traffic flows during the night are low.

Michael Penning: The Highways Agency has no plans to reduce the density of lighting (such as turning off every other lamp) on all purpose trunk roads (main roads) or motorways as this can cause patchy lighting and could compromise safety. This can be tiring for motorists and may conceal hazards in the darker patches.
	The agency has assessed and implemented switching lighting off between midnight and 5.00am on motorways where there is a good safety record and traffic flows during the night are low. This is delivering up to 40% savings in energy costs and carbon at these locations.
	There are no plans to switch off lighting during parts of the night on all purpose trunk roads.

Roads: Safety

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the level of road safety in (a) the London borough of Bexley, (b) Greater London and (c) Kent.

Michael Penning: The Department has made no such assessments. However, local authorities do have a duty under section 39 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to carry out studies into accidents within their area and to take such measures as appear appropriate to prevent such accidents.

HEALTH

Brain: Injuries

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to improve the provision of long-term care and support for those with brain injuries.

Paul Burstow: Responsibility for commissioning services to meet the needs of those living with brain injuries lies with local heath bodies and, as brain injury rehabilitation services are classed as a specialised service, they are currently commissioned by the 10 regional groups.

Cancer

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for cancer treatment.

Paul Burstow: “Improving Outcomes: a Strategy for Cancer”, a copy of which has already been placed in the Library, confirmed that the cancer waiting time standards have been retained within the national health service. These standards are in place to ensure patients with suspected cancer and diagnosed cancer are seen and treated within appropriate time scales.
	The standards set out that there should be a maximum wait of 31 days between diagnosis and first definitive treatment for all cancers. The NHS is expected to deliver this in 96% of cases, allowing for patients who do not want to be treated or are unable to be treated within this time scale. In the most recent period for which statistics are available (quarter 3 2010-11), 98.5% of patients received their first definitive treatment within 31 days of diagnosis.

Confectionery: Sugar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the confectionery industry on the sugar content of their products.

Anne Milton: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley), meets with representatives from the confectionary industry in a wide range of forums.
	He has held no discussions recently with the confectionary industry about the sugar content of their products.

London Ambulance Service: Manpower

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) drivers, (b) paramedics and (c) other staff in the London Ambulance Service were employed to provide services direct to the public on 1 April in each year since 2005.

Simon Burns: Information is not collected in the format requested.
	The following table provides the numbers of national health service staff employed in London Ambulance Service NHS Trust by main staff group and by level as at 30 September for each year since 2005.
	
		
			 NHS hospital and community health services: Staff in the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust by main staff group and by level as at 30 September each year 
			  2005  (1) 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010  (2) 
			 London Ambulance Service NHS Trust 3,784 4,112 4,080 4,126 4,719 4,939 
			        
			 Professionally qualified clinical staff 1,159 2,425 2,524 2,699 3,144 3,223 
			 Qualified ambulance service staff 1,159 2,425 2,524 2,699 3,144 3,223 
			 Manager 198 93 105 175 194 243 
			 Emergency Care Practitioner n/a 43 55 53 72 63 
			 Ambulance paramedic 961 984 1,004 1,113 1,588 1,812 
			 Ambulance Technician n/a 1,305 1,360 1,358 1,290 1,105 
			 Support to clinical staff 2,040 1,007 959 887 968 1,113 
			 Support to ambulance staff 2,040 1,007 959 887 968 1,113 
			 Ambulance personnel 1,403 329 330 404 479 525 
			 Trainee Ambulance Technician n/a 327 180 40 21 57 
			 Clerical and administrative 297 351 449 443 468 531 
			 Healthcare assistant 242 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Trainee ambulance personnel 98 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 NHS infrastructure support 585 680 597 540 607 604 
			 Central functions 270 334 282 262 285 374 
			 Clerical and administrative 270 334 282 262 285 374 
			 Hotel, property and estates 73 89 85 80 88 91 
			 Clerical and administrative 2 5 6 4 2 8 
			 Estates (maintenance and works) 69 84 79 76 86 83 
			 Support worker 2 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Managers and senior managers 242 257 230 198 234 139 
		
	
	
		
			 Senior manager 29 47 48 56 72 48 
			 Manager 213 210 182 142 162 91 
			 n/a = Not applicable. See note 1. (1) In 2006 ambulance staff were collected under new, more detailed, occupation codes. As a result, qualified totals and support to ambulance staff totals are not directly comparable with previous years. (2) The new headcount methodology for 2010 data is not fully comparable with previous years data due to improvements that make it a more stringent count of absolute staff numbers. Further information on the headcount methodology is available in the Census publication here: www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/publications/010_Workforce/nhsstaff0010/Census_Bulletin_March_2011_Final.pdf Notes: It is impossible to separately identify those staff who were 'employed to provide services direct to the public' from the census data. It is assumed that all staff who are not in the 'NHS Infrastructure Support' staff group have some contact with patients or the public. Data Quality: The NHS Information Centre for health and social care seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published. This is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses. Source: The NHS Information Centre Non-Medical Workforce Census.

London Ambulance Service: Redundancy

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many redundancies the London Ambulance Service plans to make from each category of job in 2011-12.

Simon Burns: This information is not collected centrally. The right hon. Member may wish to contact the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust for the information requested.

Medical Treatments: VAT

Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to inform those in receipt of disability benefits that they are entitled to buy medical products at zero rate value added tax.

Maria Miller: I have been asked to reply.
	Our Award Notices do not mention benefits or other schemes. Leaflet DLA 95 covers these at pages 6 and 7 (a copy is held in the Library). The leaflet also contains links to the "Direct Government" website, which provides further information.

NHS: Drugs

Margot James: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what procedures are in place to monitor the implementation of the recommendations in “Best Practice for Ensuring the Efficient Supply and Distribution of Medicines to Patients”, published by his Department in February 2011.

Simon Burns: “Best Practice for Ensuring the Efficient Supply and Distribution of Medicines to Patients” was published in February jointly by the Medicines Supply Chain Group. The Department carefully monitors data about supply problems to see if patients are being harmed because of delays in the supply of medicines.

NHS: Procurement

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much the NHS plans to spend on procurement in each year from 2012 to 2015;
	(2)  how much the NHS spent on medical supplies and equipment in 2010-11; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what plans he has to review best practice for procurement in the NHS;
	(4)  what steps his Department takes to evaluate NHS contracts for supply and delivery of medical supplies and equipment for best value; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: In 2009-10, the latest year for which figures are available, the national health service spent approximately £37 billion with external suppliers on the procurement of goods and services, of which £16.5 billion is spent by NHS providers (NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts). This £16.5 billion comprises a number of different expenditure categories such as drugs, non-clinical supplies and services, transport and establishment, all of which may include elements of medical supplies and equipment, but the category “clinical supplies and services” will cover most of the purely medical supplies and associated equipment purchased by NHS providers. Expenditure in this particular category for 2009-10 was £4.5 billion.
	In future years NHS providers will continue to be free to make their own procurement decisions from within their own budgets. However, efficiencies across the NHS in the region of £15-20 billion by the end of 2013-14 are required under the Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention initiative which includes projected efficiency savings of £1.2 billion from procurement by the end of 2013-14. To achieve this the Department has a comprehensive procurement strategy in place based around three key work strands of greater transparency on pricing; promoting and improving the national collaborative bodies such as NHS Supply Chain; and product standardisation and rationalisation.
	The National Audit Office published a report on its review of procurement by NHS providers in February 2011. The Department agreed with most of their recommendations, and which are already being addressed by these work strands.
	The Department does not make assessments of individual NHS contracts. The role of the Department is on making the tools and information available for the NHS to make the best procurement decisions. All NHS bodies must follow their Standing Financial Instructions to ensure that any contracts entered into are value for money and comply with any legal requirements.

Patient Records: Data Loss

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place in NHS hospitals to protect patient records from data loss.

Simon Burns: The security of patient records is a local responsibility and each national health service body is legally responsible for holding information securely. However, the Department provides comprehensive policy, guidance and supporting tools for security compliance to NHS bodies, including centrally-funded training resources.
	The Department has also provided electronic patient record systems that are protected by the highest levels of access controls and other security measures, a secure NHS network for exchanging information that is centrally monitored and strongly protected, and secure NHS e-mail facilities that encrypt all data in transit within the system.

Radiotherapy

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 25 October 2010, Official Report, column 127W, on radiotherapy, for what reason the national radiotherapy dataset was not published as proposed in April 2011; and when his Department expects to publish the dataset.

Paul Burstow: Release of the radiotherapy dataset is governed by the Radiotherapy Clinical Information Group (RCIG). The RCIG has decided to produce a report on the dataset collection for 2009-10, which is due for publication in June.
	The RCIG is also planning to release the full dataset via the cancer commissioning toolkit (CCT) by the end of year. The CCT gives commissioners access to high quality data about cancer services across the treatment pathway and allows trusts to benchmark their performance against one another.

St Helens and Knowsley Health Authority

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the North West Strategic Health Authority has proposed the tendering of the management of the St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust in the course of its discussions with the Trust on a tripartite agreement.

Simon Burns: holding  answer  10 May 2011
	As stated in my reply to the hon. Member for St Helens North (Mr Watts) of 4 May 2011, Official Report, columns 857-58W, the North West Strategic Health Authority has undertaken discussions with St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals National Health Service Trust regarding its progress towards achieving foundation trust status, and did raise a number of options for the trust's long-term future. These ranged from a successful application in their own right including resolution of the private finance initiative issue, a partnership with one or more national health service organisations and finally, if all other options were unsuccessful, a public/private partnership. This final option would only be for management with all NHS staff and assets remaining wholly owned by the NHS.
	None of these options have yet been agreed as the Tripartite Formal Agreement remains in draft and is being discussed with the Department. When it has been finalised and the agreement has been signed by all parties, the trust will publish the agreement on their website.

Trauma: Health Services

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure that best practice in trauma care learnt in Afghanistan is applied in the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 28 March 2011, Official Report, column 196W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester (Rob Russell).

EDUCATION

Children in Care: Standards

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to improve the standard of children's homes.

Tim Loughton: holding answer 9 May 2011
	In September 2010 I launched a new sector-led support and challenge programme for children's homes. The aim of this programme is to support the sector itself in developing and sharing evidence of effective practice so that children and young people in children's homes receive the best possible care.
	A range of activities is now under way, in close collaboration with local authorities, independent children's homes providers, Ofsted and leading researchers in the field. These include analysing data about children's homes, working with areas which have high concentrations of children's homes to identify features of good and poor practice and commissioning research about the characteristics and needs of the workforce in children's homes. The Department for Education is working closely with partners in the sector to make sure that the learning from this work is shared as widely as possible to support service improvement.
	Revised and streamlined regulations, guidance and National Minimum Standards for children's homes came into effect in April 2011. These emphasise the importance of delegating decision making as much and as clearly as possible to children's homes staff, so that they are able to offer children the personal support they need.

Children: Protection

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he plans to take in response to the recommendations of the Munro Review of Child Protection.

Tim Loughton: Professor Eileen Munro published the findings of her independent review of child protection, “A Child Centred System” on 10 May 2011. Professor Munro's recommendations are wide-ranging and look at how to re-focus the child protection system on meeting the needs of the child, rather than complying with prescriptive rules and targets.
	I welcome Professor Munro's thorough analysis of the issues. It is important that we consider carefully, with professionals themselves, how best to respond to her proposals to bring about the radical, long-term reform needed. I have therefore announced that an implementation working group drawing together key individuals from the social work profession, local government, health, police, education and the voluntary sector will be formed. The Government will work closely with this group to develop a full response to Professor Munro's recommendations before the summer recess.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Nadhim Zahawi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his Department and its predecessors spent on hospitality for journalists and members of media organisations in each year between 2005 and 2010.

Tim Loughton: The Department does not hold expenses data to the level requested by the hon. Member as we gather expenditure details under a general hospitality account code. Therefore the information required is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate costs. However, I can confirm that the Department for Children, Schools and Families held an annual Christmas reception for journalists and media organisations at an approximate cost of £500 per year.

Departmental Pensions

Steven Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of his Department's budget he expects to be spent on staff pensions in each of the next five years.

Tim Loughton: The Department is still in the process of working through the details on the level of work force needed to deliver the coalition Government's education agenda in future years and therefore is not in a position to comment on the amount it will spend on staff pensions in each of the next five years.
	Details of staff pension costs to the Department are published annually within the Resource Accounts and available on the Department's website. Information on costs for the last financial year (2010-11) will be available after the first week of July 2011:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/departmental information/reports/a00390/annual-departmental-reports-accounts-and-spending-reviews

Discretionary Learner Support Fund

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of young people who will receive funding from the 16 to 19 bursary fund in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 3 May 2011
	Around 320,000 young people will receive guaranteed support in the 2011-12 academic year as a result of the measures we announced on 28 March 2011. This includes those who will receive weekly payments under the transitional arrangements, and the estimated 12,000 young people who may be eligible each year for a guaranteed annual bursary of £1,200. Beyond this, the 16-19 bursary fund is discretionary and decisions as to who will be supported and to what level will be made by schools, colleges and training organisations.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Nadhim Zahawi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what the average annual payment to recipients of education maintenance allowance eligible for payment at £30 per week was in the most recent 12 months for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of recipients of education maintenance allowance received less than £800 a year in the last year for which figures are available;
	(3)  what the average number of weekly payments was to recipients of education maintenance allowance in the last year for which figures are available;
	(4)  what the average annual payment was to recipients of education maintenance allowance in the most recent year for which figures are available;
	(5)  what the average number of weekly payments was to recipients of education maintenance allowance who were eligible for the top rate of £30 per week in the last year for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb: This is a matter for the Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA) who operate the education maintenance allowance for the Department for Education. Peter Lauener, the YPLA's chief executive, will write to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Libraries.

Education: Finance

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much funding he has allocated for the provision of top-up bursaries to students in receipt of education maintenance allowance who will receive a smaller or no award in 2011-12.

Nick Gibb: A total of £115.5 million will be allocated in the academic year 2011-12 to schools, colleges and training providers for discretionary bursaries. This will allow schools, colleges and training providers to: pay guaranteed bursaries to young people in vulnerable groups; pay discretionary bursaries to young people starting courses in 2011-12; and to provide ‘top up’ support from the discretionary fund to young people covered by the education maintenance allowance transitional arrangements where necessary. The amounts paid under each of these categories will depend on local circumstances.

Education: Finance

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether people in receipt of a 16-19 education bursary will be able to have their payment paid directly into a bank account; and what discussions he has had with representatives of banks on the scheme.

Nick Gibb: Under our proposed arrangements for the 16-19 bursary fund, schools, colleges and training providers will have discretion to make arrangements for paying bursaries to students in ways that best fit individual needs and circumstances.
	We are consulting on the details of the bursary fund and will work with the Association of Colleges, Sixth Form Colleges Forum and others to consider the arrangements, including the handling of cashless payment systems. The Department has not held any discussions with representatives of banks relating to the scheme.

Education: Finance

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his policy is on the continuation of bursary funding in 2012-13 for those in the second year of study.

Nick Gibb: The most vulnerable young people will be eligible to receive a bursary of £1,200, regardless of which year of study they are in. In all other cases schools, colleges and training providers will be able to exercise their discretion to award 16-19 bursaries to young people in ways that best fit local needs and circumstances, including determining the approach that should be taken to young people in their second year of study.

Education: Finance

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether local authorities will be required to provide data to further education and sixth form colleges to enable them to assess the eligibility for discretionary learner support and bursaries of 16-year-olds applying to enrol at an institution in September 2011 in respect of students (a) in receipt of free school meals in year 11, (b) from a household with a low income, (c) in care and (d) in receipt of income support.

Nick Gibb: We will not require local authorities to provide data to further education and sixth form colleges in respect of young people’s eligibility for the new 16-19 bursary fund. We will provide guidance to schools, colleges and training providers regarding the kind of evidence they might wish to seek from young people claiming a guaranteed £1,200 bursary. Beyond that, schools, colleges and training providers will be able to exercise their discretion to award bursaries to young people—including those who were in receipt of free school meals in year 11—in ways that best fit their needs and circumstances.

Education: Finance

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what discussions he has had with banks on provision of bank accounts for 16-year-olds who are to receive bursaries.

Nick Gibb: We have had no discussions with banks on the provision of bank accounts for 16-year-olds who are to receive bursaries. Arrangements for young people to open bank accounts were discussed at the time of the introduction of the education maintenance allowance and are unchanged by the announcement of the 16-19 bursary fund. Young people aged 16 are able to open a basic bank account, which is offered by 16 members of the British Bankers Association. This account will allow for receipt of the bursary, including by cashless means, and will allow funds to be withdrawn via ATMs as well as via standing orders and direct debits where necessary. In the summer of 2011 the Money Advice Service will be publishing an interactive tool on their website which will allow young people to find out the forms of identification that are accepted by each bank offering the basic bank account.

Education: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education by what mechanism he expects schools to transfer funds to students in respect of 16-19 bursaries.

Nick Gibb: Under our proposed arrangements for the 16-19 bursary fund, schools, colleges and training providers will have discretion to award bursaries to students in ways that best meet individual needs and circumstances.

Education: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what arrangements his Department plans to put in place to facilitate the transfer of funding for 16 -19 bursaries to schools and colleges.

Nick Gibb: The Young People's Learning Agency will make allocations for the 16-19 bursary fund to schools, colleges and training providers following the end of the formal consultation on the new arrangements, which includes a question on the proposed methodology for allocating the funding. The consultation closes on 20 May 2011.

Education: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what measures his Department plans to put in place to evaluate the 16-19 bursary scheme.

Nick Gibb: Currently schools, colleges and training providers with an allocation of discretionary learner support funds are required to provide management information to the Young People's Learning Agency. We expect that this arrangement will continue for the 16-19 bursary fund, allowing us to monitor its introduction. In addition we are considering how best to evaluate the impact of the new arrangements.

Education: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to issue guidance to colleges and schools on implementation of the proposed 16-19 bursary scheme.

Nick Gibb: The Young People's Learning Agency, who will be responsible for the operation of the new 16-19 bursary fund, will issue short, focused guidance to schools, colleges and training providers after the end of the formal consultation on the new arrangements.

Free School Meals

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what evidence of demand for school places his Department requires to be submitted by schools wishing to be approved as free schools.

Nick Gibb: The criteria for assessing the evidence of demand in a free school application are set out in the ‘how to apply’ form, which is available on the Department’s website at:
	http://education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/typesofschools/freeschools/a0074965/applying-to-become-a-free-school

Further Education: Inspections

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education on what basis he would request an inspection of a (a) further education and (b) sixth form college which is judged outstanding by Ofsted under the powers proposed in clause 41 of the Education Bill.

Nick Gibb: The power proposed in clause 41 of the Education Bill exists across a number of inspection remits. There is a similar power in respect of school inspections, boarding welfare inspections and education inspections of independent schools. The power has been used extremely rarely in relation to schools and we envisage that it will only be used in exceptional circumstances for colleges. We expect this to be in cases where, for example, the Secretary of State has significant concerns about an institution.

Music: Education

Ben Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has for the future of the music grant beyond 2012.

Nick Gibb: The Government will announce the future of music funding when we publish the National Plan for Music Education later this year.

Pupils: Work Experience

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what funding his Department is providing for the administration associated with arranging work experience placements for secondary school students.

Nick Gibb: In future, in line with our policy of giving greater autonomy to schools, it should be up to schools to determine whether and how work experience is provided.

Schools: Sports

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which schools received funding from his Department for the promotion of schools sports in Wells constituency in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11; and what the type of school was in each such case.

Tim Loughton: All maintained schools in the Wells constituency received additional funding for PE and sport in both 2009-10 and 2010-11. These schools are listed by school type in the following table.
	
		
			 School type School name 
			 Primary schools Axbridge C of E First 
			  Baltonsborough C of E Primary 
			  Berrow C of E Primary 
			  Binegar C of E Primary 
			  Bowlish Infant 
			  Brent Knoll C of E Primary 
			  Brookside Community Primary 
			  Burnham on Sea Infant 
			  Butleigh C of E Primary 
		
	
	
		
			  Cheddar First 
			  Chewton Mendip C of E Primary 
			  Churchfield C of E VC Primary 
			  Coxley Primary 
			  Croscombe C of E Primary 
			  Draycott and Rodney Stoke C of E First 
			  East Brent C of E First 
			  Elmhurst Junior 
			  Hindhayes Infant 
			  Horrington Primary 
			  Lympsham C of E First 
			  Mark C of E First 
			  Meare Village Primary 
			  Oakhill C of E Primary 
			  Priddy Primary 
			  Shepton Mallet Infant 
			  Shipham C of E First 
			  St Andrew’s C of E Junior 
			  St Benedict’s C of E Junior 
			  St Cuthbert’s C of E Infant 
			  St John’s C of E Infant 
			  St Joseph & St Teresa Catholic Primary 
			  St Joseph’s Catholic Primary and Nursery 
			  St Lawrence’s C of E Primary 
			  St Paul’s C of E Junior 
			  St Vigor & St John C of E Primary 
			  Stoberry Park 
			  Walton C of E Primary 
			  Weare C of E First 
			  Wedmore First 
			  Wells Central C of E Junior 
			  West Pennard C of E Primary 
			  Wookey Primary 
			   
			 Pupil referral units Mendip Centre 
			   
			 Middle schools Fairlands 
			  Hugh Sexey 
			   
			 Secondary schools Blue 
			  Crispin 
			  King Alfred Sports College 
			  Kings of Wessex Community 
			  St Dunstan's Community 
			  Whitstone 
			   
			 Special schools Avalon

Special Educational Needs: Finance

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what constitutes a severe disability for the purposes of assessing the award of a 16-19 bursary; and whether colleges will be expected to verify receipt of disability living allowance in determining an award.

Nick Gibb: Disabled young people who are in receipt of income support will be eligible to receive a guaranteed bursary of £1,200. Other disabled young people will be able to apply for a bursary from their school or college. We are consulting on the details of the new arrangements and will work with the Association of Colleges and Sixth Form Colleges Forum and others to consider how schools, colleges and training providers might identify those students who would benefit from support under the proposed arrangements.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to respond to question 53332, on the bursary fund in the North East, tabled on 21 April 2011 for answer on 27 April 2011.

Nick Gibb: A response was issued to the hon. Member on 9 May 2011, Official Report, column 966W.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Crime: Drugs

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were (a) arrested and (b) charged with possession of class (i) A, (ii) B and (iii) C drugs in each police force area in each year since 1997.

James Brokenshire: The number of arrests for “drug offences” is published within the Home Office Statistical Bulletin ‘Police Powers and Procedures’. It is not possible to separately identify what class of drugs these arrests were for. Convictions are published by the Ministry of Justice in their ‘Criminal Statistics’ publication. Current and previous copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House.

Driving Offences

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many roadside checks for (a) speed, (b) use of seat belts and child restraints, (c) vehicle safety and roadworthiness and (d) driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs each police force carried out in each of the last 12 months.

James Brokenshire: In relation to parts (a) to (c) of the question and drug testing of part (d), these data are not collected. The number of breath tests conducted as well as the number of Vehicle Defect rectification scheme notices issued by the police is published as part of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin ‘Police Powers and Procedures’. Current and previous copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House.

Police: Prison Accommodation

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions her Department has used police cells to hold immigrants in each police force area in each year since 1997; and what the average rate paid per night by her Department to each police force for the use of such accommodation was in each such year.

Damian Green: Information on the number of occasions in which immigrants have been held in police cells during the period 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2010 is shown in Table 1 to be placed in the House Library. The rates at which the various police authorities charged the UK Border Agency for the use of police cells during the 2010-11 financial year are shown in Table 2. Historic costs are not readily available and it would involve disproportionate costs to establish them.
	All those that are arrested on suspicion of an immigration offence, i.e. have not already been served immigration papers, are to be taken to a designated PACE (Police and Criminal Evidence) custody suite. The agency would normally only use police cells for one night, with a normal maximum of two nights. In exceptional cases a detainee may spend up to five nights continuously in a police cell (seven nights if removal directions have been set within 48 hours) if, for instance, the individual is awaiting transfer to more suitable UK Border Agency or Prison Service accommodation and the police are content to maintain detention.
	
		
			 Table 2: Police authority charge rates for police cells 2010-11 
			 Police authority Charges per 24 hrs (£) 
			 South Yorkshire 350.00 
			 Humberside 329.80 
			 North Yorkshire 266.31 
			 Durham 303.00 
			 Cleveland 111.00 
			 West Yorkshire 240.00 
			 Northumbria 301.40 
			 Merseyside 300.00 
			 Greater Manchester 342.00 
			 Lancashire 130.00 
			 Cumbria 110.00 
			 Cheshire 124.00 
			 South Wales 280.00 
			 Gwent 250.00 
			 Dyfed Powys 280.00 
			 North Wales 330.00 
			 Dorset 463.00 
			 Avon and Somerset 190.00 
			 Wiltshire 463.00 
			 Devon and Cornwall 409.00 
			 Gloucester 110.00 
			 Bedfordshire 189.10 
			 Cambridgeshire 210.58 
			 Derbyshire 347.44 
			 Essex 251.93 
			 Hertfordshire 268.82 
			 Leicestershire 319.47 
			 Lincolnshire 516.42 
			 Northamptonshire 747.83 
			 Norfolk 100.35 
			 Nottinghamshire 494.16 
			 Staffordshire 341.84 
			 Suffolk 68.39 
			 Warwickshire 536.32 
			 West Mercia 800.79 
			 West Midlands 803.46 
			 British Transport Police 350.00 
			 Hampshire police 300.00 
			 Hertfordshire police 110.00 
			 Kent police 420.65 
			 Metropolitan police 508.00 
			 Surrey police 700.00 
			 Sussex police 750.00 
		
	
	
		
			 Thames Valley police 414.11 
			 All Scottish authorities 250.00

Prevent Review

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to publish her review of the Prevent strategy.

Theresa May: A thorough and detailed review was required to ensure that Prevent works as well as possible. The review and new strategy will be published shortly.

Visas: Kunai Doshi

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to decide on the application for a long stay visa from Mr Kunai Doshi, case reference number D1145300.

Damian Green: Given the personal nature of this inquiry and public nature of the response, I am unable to divulge any details of the individual case. If my hon. Friend would like to write to me on this matter, I would be willing to respond in a more substantive manner.

TREASURY

Apprentices

Matthew Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the likely number of work experience places he expects to be created in each (a) region, (b) local authority and (c) parliamentary constituency in each of the next four years, following his decision to fund an additional 80,000 work experience places; and how many work experience places in total he expects there to be in each such case in each such year.

Chris Grayling: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department has not set expectations for, or determined likely volumes of Work Experience placements by locality. Jobcentre Plus District Managers will assess, on an ongoing basis, the requirement for placements in their locality based on customer needs and the local labour market. The Department plans to publish official statistics for the number of starts for work experience placements. This is expected to be from autumn 2011 enabling us to ensure that our statistics are accurate and robust and that we adhere to the guidelines set by the UKSA.

Child Tax Credit: Overseas Residence

David Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was paid in child tax credits to people domiciled outside the UK in each of the last three years.

Justine Greening: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 5 May 2011, Official Report, column 914W.

Economic Situation

David Morris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the likelihood of a double-dip recession.

Danny Alexander: The UK returned to positive growth in the first quarter of this year. The Government have always been clear that the recovery will be choppy, but the independent Office for Budget Responsibility and all other credible forecasters, including NIESR released just last week, are very clear that the UK recovery will continue.

Financial Services Compensation Scheme

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received regarding the decision not to distinguish between providers and intermediaries in respect of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme interim levy fee; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: The Government receive representations on various issues from a wide range of stakeholders. Rules governing the levies imposed on members of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme are made by the Financial Services Authority, which is independent of the Government

Financial Stability Board: Investments

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what representations he has made to the Financial Stability Board on exchange traded funds;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the regulatory framework in the London markets in respect of exchange traded funds.

Mark Hoban: The Government are aware of the recent developments in the exchange traded funds industry and is working closely with the FSA and Bank of England to analyse the risks associated with these products.
	The Financial Stability Board has carried out analysis of the exchange traded funds market at the request of its members. The UK is a member of the Financial Stability Board and is supportive of further analysis in this area.

Fuels: Prices

Alun Cairns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 4 April 2011, Official Report, column 724-5W, on fuels: prices, if he will publish the pump price data collected by his Department.

Justine Greening: Energy price statistics including weekly fuel prices are published by the Government under the statistics tab of the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s website at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/
	Open source data is also available from:
	www.petrolprices.com

Members: Correspondence

Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight of 8 April 2011, ref. 1/91445/2011.

Justine Greening: HMRC plans to reply to the hon. Member on or before 16 May 2011 on behalf of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Pensions: Private Sector

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of people were contracted (a) in and (b) out of defined benefit pension schemes in 2010.

Danny Alexander: holding answer 28 April 2011
	There are estimated to be 26.6 million jobs in the UK. The number of employees that are members of contracted out defined benefit pension schemes is 6.8 million or around 25% of employees. The number of individuals that are not members of contracted out defined benefit schemes is 19.8 million or around 75%.

Pensions: Public Sector

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate has been made of the savings to the Exchequer of ending contracting out for defined-benefit public sector pension schemes.

Danny Alexander: The contracted-out rebate for defined benefit pension schemes was worth £7.3 billion in.2008-09 (based on data from the NPS).
	NPS data do not differentiate between public and private sector employees and as such a precise estimate on the savings attributable to either group cannot be made.
	However, HM Treasury estimates that there are currently around 5.3 million active members of defined benefit pension schemes employed within the public sector.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Electricity

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure that his proposals for electricity market reform support energy efficiency measures.

Charles Hendry: The Government are committed to encouraging and incentivising energy efficiency within the home, in the public and private sectors. DECC is already rolling out energy efficient measures through the Green Deal, the Carbon Reduction Commitment, Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) and Community Energy Saving Programmes (CESP), among others.
	DECC is currently developing a White Paper which will set out proposals for the UK's electricity market reform (EMR). The EMR is a package of policies which will complement and interact with existing policy including those which incentivise using energy efficiently. In developing the White Paper, we are considering views raised in response to the EMR consultation on demand-side issues.

Fossil Fuels

James Wharton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of UK energy was generated from fossil fuels in each year since 2008.

Charles Hendry: The percentage of UK electricity generated from fossil fuels in each year since 2008 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Percentage 
			 2008 79.7 
			 2009 73.7 
			 2010(1) 76.0 
			 (1 )Provisional

Fuel Poverty: Sunderland

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households in Sunderland he estimates were living in fuel poverty in 2009-10.

Gregory Barker: In 2008, the latest year for which data is available, the number of households living in fuel poverty in the Sunderland local authority was estimated to be around 24,400. This is equivalent to around 20.6% of households in Sunderland.

Meters

Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when the framework for the procurement of the first generation of communication and data service contracts for the development of smart meters will be prepared; and what process that preparation will entail.

Charles Hendry: The strategy for the procurement of first-generation DCC service providers is currently being prepared by my officials in DECC, with input from stakeholders and from Infrastructure UK, who have expertise in large-scale public sector procurement. We intend to complete the strategy and begin the procurement process as soon as practicable. We will set out further details of the process and the timetable for the procurement process when we are in a position to do so.

Oil: Refineries

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the potential effects of his proposed floor price for carbon on the operating costs of companies in the oil refining industry.

Justine Greening: I have been asked to reply.
	An assessment of the impacts of the carbon price floor is given in HMRC's Tax Information and Impact Note published alongside the Budget. This is available online at
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2011/tiin6111.pdf

Warm Front Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the number of households previously on the waiting list for the Warm Front scheme who are no longer eligible for the Warm Front scheme under the eligibility criteria from April 2011.

Gregory Barker: All successful applications on the waiting list before the scheme stopped accepting applications in December 2010 will be serviced.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Citizenship Survey

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations his Department has received on the Citizenship Survey.

Andrew Stunell: The summary report on the consultation on this issue, and the associated consultation responses, can be found online at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/csconsultresponses
	The Department has also received a letter from the UK Statistics Authority. I am placing a copy of the Department's reply to the letter in the Library of the House.

First Time Buyers

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the FirstBuy scheme in assisting first-time buyers.

Grant Shapps: FirstBuy will help 10,000 prospective first time buyers purchase new build homes over the next two years in England. Housebuilders will match fund the Government's investment, to provide a 20% equity loan which can be used towards a deposit. This will help-first time buyers to enter the housing market, support the construction industry, create new jobs and increase the pace of economic growth. We expect the first homes to be available in the summer.

Historic Buildings: Planning Permission

Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  whether he has placed a requirement on any local planning authority (LPA) to supply in default professional advice in connection with heritage advice to another LPA as authorised under paragraph 7 of schedule 4 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990;
	(2)  on how many occasions he has used his powers under paragraph 7 of schedule 4 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.

Bob Neill: We have no record of any Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government ever invoking his or her powers under paragraph 7 of Schedule 4 to the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.

Local Government Finance

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what the membership of the Local Government Resource Review working group is; what remuneration each member of the group will receive; and how frequently he expects the group to meet;
	(2)  what the membership is of the Local Government Resource Review technical group; what remuneration each member of the group will receive; and how frequently he expects the group to meet.

Bob Neill: The Terms of Reference of the Local Government Resource Review made clear that we would conduct extensive engagement with interested parties. As part of this process, external working groups have been set up to help inform the work of the review, and we continue to welcome representations.
	The Business Organisation working group includes, or has invited, representatives from the following organisations:
	Association of Convenience Stores
	British Chambers of Commerce
	British Council of Shopping Centres
	British Property Federation
	British Retail Consortium
	Confederation of British Industry
	Federation of Small Businesses
	London First
	Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.
	The local authority working group includes, or has invited, representatives from the following organisations:
	Association of Chief Police Officers
	Association of Police Authorities
	Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy
	Core Cities
	Fire Finance Network
	Greater London Authority
	Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation
	London Councils
	Local Government Association
	Society of County Treasurers
	Society of District Council Treasurers
	Society of Municipal Treasurers
	Society of Unitary Treasurers
	Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities.
	The local authority technical working group includes, or has invited, Chris Bilsland, Paul Dale, Will Godfrey, Hugh Grover, Stephen Hughes, Margaret Lee, Sean Nolan, and David Smith, who provide advice on a personal and independent basis rather than representing specific bodies.
	These working groups meet as and when required, and members receive no remuneration.

Local Government Finance

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions he has had with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the Local Government Resource Review.

Bob Neill: The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), has regular discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne) and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable) and other Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues, including the Local Government Resource Review.

Local Government Finance

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions he has had with (a) the Local Government Association, (b) Liverpool city council, (c) the North West Development Agency, (d) the Merseyside Local Enterprise Partnership, (e) the Core Cities Group and (f) the Federation of Small Businesses on the Local Government Resource Review.

Bob Neill: Ministers and officials have regular discussions with representatives of local government, business and other interested organisations on the Local Government Resource Review. We continue to welcome any further representations to help inform our work.
	The first phase of the review will conclude in July when we will consult on the Government's proposals, providing an opportunity for the mentioned groups to make representations and provide their feedback.

Waste Disposal

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department issues to local authorities on reducing and preventing municipal waste.

Bob Neill: My Department works closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on these issues and the ongoing Waste Review.
	Last year my Department moved to revoke guidance which pressured councils to introduce fortnightly rubbish collections.
	On 11 April 2011, both Departments sent a joint letter to local authorities clarifying the legal position on backdoor bin charging. I have placed a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he plans to respond to question 51594 on former regional development agency assets, tabled on 1 April 2011 for answer on 5 April 2011.

Bob Neill: Question 51594 was answered on 10 May 2011.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Elephant Poaching: Africa

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government are taking through international organisations to tackle the poaching of elephants in central and west Africa.

Richard Benyon: As a party to the convention on international trade in endangered species (CITES) the UK supports its efforts to maintain or enhance countries' enforcement capabilities. Next week, the UK will be participating in a CITES-organised rhino and elephant enforcement task force meeting which will exchange intelligence reports and methodologies and develop strategies to tackle the illegal trade in both animals across their ranges.

River Ecology

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to improve the water quality and ecology of rivers in England.

Richard Benyon: The measures we will take to prevent deterioration and improve the ecological status of all water bodies (including rivers) in England by 2015 are set out in River Basin Management Plans.
	An approach to engage local communities to develop improvement plans is being piloted and will be supported by over 8,500 investigations into specific issues and an additional £92 million over the next four years to fund action to tackle them.

Private Sewers

Aidan Burley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress she has made on transferring the ownership of private sewers to statutory sewerage companies.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA continues to work closely with water and sewerage companies and other interested parties in preparation for the proposed transfer of private sewers. Draft regulations to effect the transfer were laid before Parliament on 26 April. Subject to the regulations being approved, the transfer is proposed to take place on 1 October this year.

Uplands Review

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received on her Department’s uplands review.

James Paice: Let me thank the hon. Member and the Committee she chairs for highlighting the importance of uplands.
	We have received numerous positive reactions from a wide range of stakeholders to the conclusions of the uplands policy review, which was announced on 10 March.
	The value and potential of our uplands have been overlooked for too long and this is the beginning, not the end of this Government’s commitment to the uplands.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to announce measures to tackle the spread of bovine tuberculosis.

James Paice: We will announce a comprehensive and balanced TB Eradication Programme for England shortly. This is a complex and sensitive issue and we received a large number of responses to our consultation, which we have been considering carefully.
	As I told the NFU conference in February we must ensure that we have clear and practical solutions to the issues which were raised, failing which we may not proceed.

Departmental Manpower

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what public sector job reduction targets have been set for her Department and its non-departmental public bodies for each of the next 24 months; and what steps she plans to take to meet such targets.

Richard Benyon: The Department does not have "job reduction targets". We have committed to reducing our administration costs across the Department and its non-departmental public bodies by 33% by the end of the current spending review period.
	To achieve this we are looking first to save as much as possible from non-pay costs, including significant reductions in the use of consultants, operational savings in IT and estates and other non pay costs.
	We have operated a freeze on external recruitment since 25 May 2010, and have made a commitment to avoid compulsory redundancies wherever possible. We are therefore aiming to achieve the cost reduction required through normal staff turnover, voluntary exits, then voluntary redundancies wherever possible.
	We are currently running a departmental voluntary exit scheme. Following the departures from this round of exits we will need to re-assess the position and savings we have achieved before taking decisions on next steps.
	DEFRA's non-departmental public bodies are managing their own staff exit schemes.

EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 4 May 2011, Official Report, column 785W, on the EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement, whether the information submitted to the European Commission by the Moroccan authorities distinguished between benefit to the indigenous Saharawi population and benefit to Moroccan settlers.

Richard Benyon: The information submitted by the Moroccan authorities was not broken down to the level of individual recipients and it is therefore not possible to make such an analysis.

Floods: Insurance

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish the future flood insurance models she is considering for implementation following the end of the Statement of Principles in 2013.

Richard Benyon: A working group which includes representatives from the Government, the Environment Agency, the insurance industry and other organisations is looking at a range of potential flood insurance models for the future.
	These discussions include the role that specialist brokers can play in helping people at high flood risk to access insurance, the potential role of local authorities, and various pooling arrangements for flood risk. Further details on the models that have been considered to date will be provided in the working group's interim report, which is due to be published shortly.

Floods: Insurance

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  whether her Department has made an assessment of the effect of inability to obtain home and business flood insurance on the domestic and business property markets in areas where flood defence schemes have been postponed;
	(2)  what assessment her Department has made of the availability of flood insurance in areas where flood defence schemes have been postponed.

Richard Benyon: The three working groups that were established after last year's Flood summit are examining this and other questions about flood insurance and risk reduction, with a view to establishing a roadmap beyond 2013 when the current Statement of Principles ends.
	The existing statement commits insurers to continue to offer insurance to existing customers where they are at significant risk and where there are plans in place to reduce that risk within five years.

Floods: Insurance

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether she has established any criteria for flood insurance for the new flood insurance framework after 2013.

Richard Benyon: A working group which includes representatives from the Government, the Environment Agency, the insurance industry and other organisations is looking at a range of potential flood insurance models for the future, and has agreed a set of common principles for how a future model should function. Any potential models will be assessed against these criteria. The criteria will be set out in the working group's interim report, which is due to be published shortly.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Arms Control

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department takes to monitor the (a) supply of arms to and (b) use of arms by militia and other non-state groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Henry Bellingham: The UK is a strong supporter of the UN arms embargo and other measures to restrict the supply of arms to militias operating in the country. The arms embargo was renewed on 30 November 2009 under UN Resolution 1896. This resolution also backed a sanctions regime to provide for measures against individuals or entities supporting illegal armed groups.
	Under UN Resolution 1896, the Group of Experts is mandated to investigate breaches of the arms embargo and support to illegal armed groups. The Group of Experts produces an annual report which is used as a basis for determining which individuals could be designated for sanctions. We have stayed in touch with the Group of Experts and have offered as much support to them as possible.

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Females

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the British embassy in Kinshasa takes to monitor the situation of women in Eastern Congo; and if he will make a statement.

Henry Bellingham: To monitor the situation in Eastern Congo, we work with non-governmental organisations and other local and international civil society groups, as well as the UN peacekeeping mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which is an important tool in monitoring human rights abuses. The UK also supports the work of Margot Wallström, the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict.
	Women continue to face extremely high levels of sexual and gender-based violence in DRC. We have consistently lobbied the DRC Government, both bilaterally and with our EU partners, to implement necessary reforms and tackle impunity. Our ambassador to DRC takes every appropriate opportunity to raise the issue of sexual violence against women with the DRC authorities. I visited the DRC in July of last year, and raised concerns about human rights with various DRC Government Ministers. I stressed that the DRC's human rights record must improve. I met Foreign Minister Thambwe and urged the Government of DRC to implement fully President Kabila's “Zero Tolerance” policy on perpetrators of sexual violence. In February I also welcomed the conviction of the senior commander, Lt. Col. Mutuare Daniel Kibibi, and eight other soldiers for their role in the mass rape in the town of Fizi, eastern DRC.
	United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN peacekeeping force in the DRC, plays a vital role in improving the security of civilians of the DRC. The UK's position in the UN Security Council has made sure that the priority for the force is protection of civilians.
	In November we published our ‘National Action Plan’ to address peace and security for women in DRC under UN Security Council Resolution 1325. This sets out our planned work for the coming year, and seeks to address the problem at all levels, including through security and programmes to support women in DRC. The document is available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website, as is ‘Human Rights and Democracy: The 2010 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Report’, in which DRC features as a country of concern:
	http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/global-issues/human-rights/around-the-world/human-rights-report/

Departmental Legal Costs

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department paid in (a) damages, (b) claimant costs and (c) defendant costs in respect of all civil claims brought against his Department in which the claimant was successful or the Department settled in each of the last three years.

Henry Bellingham: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) recognises the successful management of health and safety to be an essential part of corporate risk management, a key management objective and an integral part of its business performance, and takes all necessary steps to ensure that all legal, moral and economic obligations so far as is reasonably practicable are met.
	Our figures show that the FCO paid the following amounts for (a) damages:
	2010-11: £424,032
	2009-10: £212,900
	2008-09: not available
	and (b) claimant costs:
	2010-11: £523,620
	2009-10: £258,110
	2008-09: not available.
	We do not keep records of (c) defendant costs in respect of all civil claims brought against the Department in which the claimant was successful or the Department settled.
	The figures above are for claims on civil damages and do not include employment tribunals.
	Records for 2008-09 are not kept in a format which enables easy retrieval of the data. To retrieve the full data for 2008-09 would incur disproportionate cost.

Indonesia: Religious Freedom

Sajid Javid: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of levels of religious freedom in Indonesia.

Jeremy Browne: Indonesia's constitution provides for religious freedom for all and the country has strong pluralist and inclusive traditions. However, despite Indonesia's positive progress on human rights, we are concerned about recent violent incidents against religious minorities.
	Our ambassador raised freedom of religion concerns with the Indonesian Attorney-General on 21 April 2011. On 5 May 2011, the EU in Jakarta held a meeting for EU partners with members of the Ahmadiyya community that was subjected to a violent attack in February 2011.
	Tackling discrimination and protecting minority communities was also discussed with the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the EU-Indonesia Human Rights Dialogue in Brussels on 9 March 2011.
	Along with our EU partners, we continue to call for religious tolerance across Indonesia and to press the authorities to ensure respect for the rights of all religious minorities.

Iraq

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Iraqi Government on Camp Ashraf; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: Following an incident on 8 April 2011 at Camp Ashraf, I released a statement calling on the government of Iraq to cease violent operations in Camp Ashraf immediately. Our embassy officials, including our ambassador in Baghdad, have also raised concerns about the incident with the Iraqi President, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Minister of Human Rights. We have urged the Iraqi authorities to take immediate steps to calm the situation at the camp; ensure that medical supplies are able to enter; and ensure that the human rights of camp residents are respected. We will continue to monitor developments at the camp closely.

Libya: Armed Conflict

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make an assessment of the compatibility of providing arms to the anti-government forces in Libya with UN Security Council Resolution 1973.

Alistair Burt: We must do everything to comply with both Security Council Resolutions (UN SCR). The legal position is clear: the arms embargo applies to the whole territory of Libya. But at the same time UN SCR 1973 allows all necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian populated areas.

Members: Correspondence

Amber Rudd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye of 17 February 2011, on behalf of her constituent Mr Robert Edmonds, reference AR/LS/947.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office did not receive my hon. Friend's letter of 17 February 2011. We received a copy on 10 May 2011 and have transferred it to the UK Border Agency for reply.

UK Membership of EU

Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the (a) gross cost to the public purse and (b) net cost to the UK economy of the UK's membership of the EU in the last year for which figures are available.

Justine Greening: I have been asked to reply.
	The Treasury has reviewed a wide range of studies by external commentators that attempt to assess the economic costs and benefits of EU membership. These reviews are regularly updated by the Treasury to ensure that it is providing Parliament and the public with up-to-date information.
	The most recent updates, along with a previous literature review from 2005, were published on the Treasury's website
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/foi_costbenefit_eumembership.htm
	on 1 December 2010 following a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
	Projections for UK's gross and net contributions to the EU budget are provided by the Office for Budget Responsibility in its Economic and Fiscal Outlook. The latest publication (March 2011) is available online at:
	http://budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/econ-fiscal-outlook-march.html
	The table including all transactions with EU institutions is table 2.16 of the supplementary economy tables (also available online).

United Arab Emirates: AssetCo

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the use of (a) military and (b) other equipment sold to the Government of United Arab Emirates by AssetCo plc in recent actions in (i) Manama, Bahrain and (ii) other cities or towns in Bahrain; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: holding answer 5 May 2011
	We have seen no evidence that military or other equipment sold by AssetCo plc has been used in Bahrain. We have not seen Emiratis on the streets in Bahrain and we have seen no evidence that Gulf Cooperation forces have done anything other than safeguard installations. The UK Government take their arms export responsibilities very seriously, and operate one of the most rigorous arms export control regimes in the world. We do not export equipment where there is a clear risk it could be used for internal repression.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Crisis Loans: Housing Benefit

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of the crisis loans made from the Social Fund were made as interim payments pending benefit receipt in each year since 2009; and what proportion of funding for crisis loans these payments represented.

Steve Webb: The information available is shown in the following table. Information for 2010-11 will not be available until after the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions’ Annual Report on the Social Fund for 2010-11 has been published later this year.
	
		
			  Crisis loan awards in 2009-10 in Great Britain 
			 All crisis loan initial awards (Thousand) 2,697 
			 Crisis loan awards made for alignment purposes (Thousand) 1,100 
			 Proportion of all crisis loans funding which was for alignment payments (percentage) 31.3 
			 Notes: 1. The information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics and there are some issues with the data, for example, it does not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System. 2. The number of initial awards does not include awards made on review. 3. The question has been interpreted as asking for the volumes of crisis loan awards for alignment purposes as interim payments are different and do not come under the Social Fund remit. 4. The proportion of all crisis loan funding which was for alignment purposes is different to the proportion of awards because of the different award amounts given for different crisis loan applications. Awards for alignment purposes tend to be lower than those for other crisis loan awards. 5. Crisis loans for alignment purposes can be awarded prior to a new benefit claim or to the applicants first wage. Awards for alignment to first wage are small (less than 5% of all alignment awards). Source:  DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System and Annual Report by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the Social Fund 2009-10

Disability Living Allowance: Autism

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people with autism in receipt of the middle rate of disability living allowance.

Maria Miller: Figures for the number of people with autism in receipt of the middle rate of DLA are not collected separately. Such figures are included within the broader category of learning difficulties.
	The information available is in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of people in receipt of the middle care rate of disability living allowance where the main disabling condition is learning difficulties—August 2010 
			  All Middle care rate 
			 All 3,176,200 1,059,800 
			 Learning difficulties 367,400 181,000 
			 Notes: 1. The preferred statistics on benefits are now derived from 100% data sources. However, the 5% sample data still provide some detail not yet available from the 100% data sources, in particular, more complete information on the disabling condition of DLA claimants. DWP recommends that, where the detail is only available on the 5% sample data, or disabling condition (DLA) is required, the proportions derived should be scaled up to the overall 100% total for the benefit. This has been done here. 2. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 3. Caseload totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance and exclude those with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. 4. Learning difficulties includes the following disabling conditions: ‘F86’—‘Down's Syndrome’ ‘F87’—‘Fragile X syndrome’ ‘F90’—‘Other Learning Disability’ ‘F91’—‘Autism’ ‘F92’—‘Asperger Syndrome’ ‘F94’—‘Retts Disorder’ Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate, 5% sample

Health Hazards: Regulation

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002.

Chris Grayling: There has been no recent assessment of the effectiveness of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002—known as COSHH. However COSHH implements, among others, Directive 98/24/EC, the chemical agents directive, and the UK was obliged to assess the impact of the first five years of practical implementation of chemical agents directive in 2007.
	This assessment was prepared for the UK Government by the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). It is available on the HSE website at:
	http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/meetings/hscarchive/2007/060207/c20.pdf
	The assessment concluded that while it was too early to assess the effect of the implementing regulations on occupational health and safety, as even if enough time had elapsed for potentially significant improvements to occur, it would be challenging to differentiate between the effects of the regulations, effects of other initiatives, e.g. targeted inspector activity, and background trends in improving health and safety.
	The UK will be required to undertake the next assessment of the implementation of the chemical agents directive later this year and HSE is currently considering the most appropriate way to do this.

Housing Benefit

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on giving tenants in the private rented sector the choice of whether to receive local housing allowance directly.

Steve Webb: We continue to support the principle that tenants in the private rented sector should be responsible for managing their rental payments. There are safeguards in place so that housing benefit can be paid to the landlord if the tenant is unable or unlikely to pay their rent. Benefit is also paid direct to the landlord if the tenant is in arrears by eight weeks’ rent.
	From April 2011 we are widening local authority discretion to pay housing benefit direct to the landlord only if it would help the customer secure a new tenancy or remain in their current home at a reduced rent. We will work closely with local authorities to ensure this provision is used in very specific circumstances where landlords are reducing rents to a level that is affordable for customers.

Housing Benefit

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the effects on levels of private sector lending to housing associations of changes in the number of housing association tenants paying the housing benefit element of universal credit direct to their landlord compared with equivalent levels at present; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on this matter.

Steve Webb: We said in the recent Welfare Reform White Paper that there are advantages in paying the housing component to individuals, but we also recognise the importance of stable rental income and private sector lending for social landlords.
	Together with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, we are considering a range of options for achieving this, such as the use of direct debits and other protection mechanisms which could safeguard landlords’ incomes. Moreover, we are retaining a facility in universal credit for direct payments to landlords.

Housing Benefit

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he had had with representatives of (a) social landlords, (b) local authorities, (c) lenders, (d) third sector organisations and (e) tenants organisations on payment direct to landlords of the housing element of universal credit.

Steve Webb: The Department for Work and Pensions have direct discussions on universal credit, and the housing element of universal credit, with a range of stakeholder groups. These groups include local authorities, landlord representatives and welfare organisations.
	We have also said that there are advantages in paying the housing component to individuals, but we also recognise the importance of stable rental income for social landlords. We are considering a range of options for achieving this, such as the use of direct debits and other protection mechanisms which could safeguard landlords’ incomes. Moreover, we are retaining a facility in universal credit for direct payments to landlords.

Housing Benefit

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of likely claimant (a) on-flow and (b) off-flow rates for housing benefit in each year to 2019-20.

Steve Webb: The requested information is not available.
	Experimental official statistics on housing benefit flows from November 2008 to November 2010 are available, and are published at the bottom of the following link:
	http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=hbctb
	The latest published forecast of the total housing benefit caseload to 2015-16 is provided in the following table.
	
		
			  Housing benefit caseload (  Thousand  ) 
			 2010-11 4,785 
			 2011-12 4,834 
			 2012-13 4,779 
			 2013-14 4,650 
			 2014-15 4,538 
			 2015-16 4,464 
			 Source: Budget 2011 forecasts, available at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/index.php?page=medium_term

Housing Benefit

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effects on individual families of the changes in housing allowances which took effect in April 2011.

Steve Webb: The Department has commissioned a consortium of academics and research organisations led by Ian Cole, professor of housing studies at Sheffield Hallam university to undertake an independent review of the impact of the housing benefit measures introduced last month. The work will include the effects of the measures on families.
	The Department for Communities and Local Government, The Scottish Government and Welsh Assembly Government are working in close partnership with the DWP and contributing to the costs of the review.

Housing Benefit

Mel Stride: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will bring forward proposals to retain or reinstate arrangements for housing benefit to be paid direct to private landlords.

Steve Webb: We continue to support the principle that tenants in the private rented sector should be responsible for managing their rental payments. There are safeguards in place so that housing benefit can be paid to the landlord if the tenant is unable or unlikely to pay their rent. Benefit is also paid direct to the landlord if the tenant is in arrears by eight weeks’ rent.
	From April 2011 we are widening local authority discretion to pay housing benefit direct to the landlord only if it would help the customer secure a new tenancy or remain in their current home at a reduced rent. We will work closely with local authorities to ensure this provision is used in very specific circumstances where landlords are reducing rents to a level that is affordable for customers.

Housing Benefit

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of any change in the (a) number and (b) value of rent arrears in the private rented sector since the introduction of direct payment of housing benefit to tenants.

Steve Webb: The Department published its assessment of the impact of direct payment of housing benefit to tenants in its Two Year Review of the operation of the local housing allowance. This report was published on 10 February and a copy is available in the House of Commons Library.

Housing Benefit

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received on whether tenants in the private rented sector should be able to decide who receives their housing benefit payments.

Steve Webb: The Department has received representations during the current parliamentary session on the subject of direct payment of housing benefit to private rental sector landlords from:
	National Landlords Association
	Greater London Authority
	Crisis
	Shelter
	Citizens Advice.
	Other organisations, such as the Residential Landlords Association and the British Property Federation, have made submissions to the Work and Pensions Select Committee proposing the reintroduction of tenant choice for housing benefit payments.
	Several similar letters and representations have been received from Members of Parliament in respect of their constituents and local organisations.

Housing Benefit

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether there will be provision for tenants in the private rented sector to decide to whom the housing element of universal credit is paid.

Steve Webb: The Government see the main purpose of the benefit system as helping people into work. This is why customers claiming housing benefit according to local housing allowance rules have their payment made to them directly, except where they are unable to handle their financial affairs or where they have got into rent arrears of eight weeks or more.
	We intend to take these principles forward into universal credit so private-rented sector tenants, moving onto universal credit for the first time, will generally be paid direct. We are, however, retaining a facility for direct payment to landlords.

Housing Benefit

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received from (a) Shelter and (b) Crisis on the direct payment to landlords of housing benefit in respect of tenants in the private rented sector.

Steve Webb: Representations have been received from both Shelter and Crisis on the direct payment of housing benefit for tenants in the private rented sector. Both Crisis and Shelter have stated that the reintroduction of tenant choice in deciding whether payments should be made to landlords would encourage landlords to stay in the housing benefit market. Shelter based their recommendation on a survey of claimants and a poll of landlords and they made these points in their response to the housing benefit reforms announced in the June 2010 Budget.
	Both organisations have also submitted responses to the Work and Pensions Select Committee and the Social Security Advisory Committee which highlighted this area.

Housing Benefit

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated research on the preferences of private sector housing tenants in respect of payment of housing benefit.

Steve Webb: The evaluation of the local housing allowance pathfinders commissioned and undertaken by my Department between 2004 and 2006 examined the preference of private sector housing tenants in respect of payment of housing benefit.
	Copies of the pathfinder evaluation reports covering the views and experiences of tenants, landlords, pathfinder local authorities and other stakeholders of the local housing allowance pathfinder scheme, can be found on the DWP's website at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/local%2Dauthority%2Dstaff/housing%2Dbenefit/claims%2Dprocessing/local%2Dhousing%2Dallowance/evaluation/pathfinders/
	The Department has commissioned a consortium of academics and research organisations led by Ian Cole, professor of housing studies at Sheffield Hallam University for the independent review of the impact of the Housing Benefit measures introduced last month.

Incapacity Benefit: Mental Health

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for how many recipients of (a) incapacity benefit and (b) employment and support allowance mental health was a factor in their incapacity for work in each constituency in the last period for which figures are available; and what proportion of recipients of each such benefit such cases represented.

Maria Miller: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

National Identity Fraud Unit

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases were referred to the National Identity Fraud Unit in each year since 1997; how many such cases were investigated in each such year; and how many such cases subsequently resulted in a conviction.

Chris Grayling: Jobcentre Plus does not collect statistical information relating to the number of cases referred to National Identity Fraud Unit since 1997, how many cases were investigated in each year; and how many cases subsequently resulted in a conviction.

Offshore Industry: Safety

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to apply the health and safety regulations associated with the offshore oil and gas sector to offshore wind development in the UK.

Chris Grayling: The Government believe new energy technologies will make a major contribution to the UK’s energy future. To help enable this, health and safety issues must be appropriately addressed.
	The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has recently completed a programme of work reviewing the health and safety hazards associated with key emerging energy technologies, including offshore wind power. This work concluded that the existing legislative framework, established under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, is sufficient to manage the hazards associated with emerging energy technologies and did not identify a current need to extend the permissioning regime adopted in the offshore oil and gas sector to offshore wind development. HSE is supplementing this approach by working with industry to encourage the spread of relevant good practice developed by existing offshore industries into new energy sectors. The Government will continue to monitor the application of health and safety legislation to all areas of emerging energy to ensure that hazards are managed and controlled effectively.

Pensions: Fraud

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) fraud and (b) error rate was in the administration of the basic state pension in each of the last five years; how many basic state pension claimants were asked to make repayments in each such year; what the total amount of overpaid state pensions repaid was in each such year; and what the average amount of basic state pension overpaid to claimants was in each such year.

Steve Webb: A measurement exercise to estimate the level of official error in the basic state pension is carried out each year. However, measurement of customer error and fraud is only carried out occasionally. The last time customer error and fraud were measured was in 2005-06. Therefore, each time the Department issues updated fraud and error data, the 2005-06 rates for customer error and fraud in the basic state pension are used, multiplied by current expenditure to give a cash figure.
	The rate of official error in the administration of the basic state pension in each of the last five years is provided in the following table:
	
		
			 Official error rate 
			 Percentage 
			  Overpayments Underpayments 
			 2009-10 0.0 0.1 
			 2008-09 0.0 0.2 
			 2007-08 0.0 0.2 
			 2006-07 0.1 0.1 
			 2005-06 0.0 0.1 
			 Note: Data are not yet available for 2010-11 Source: National Statistics reports, ‘Fraud and Error in the Benefit System’ 
		
	
	The 2005-06 customer error and fraud rates are provided in the following table:
	
		
			 2005-06 
			  Overpayments Underpayments 
			 Customer error 0.1 0.0 
			 Fraud 0.0 0.0 
			 Source: National Statistics report, ‘Fraud and Error in State Pension’, 2006 
		
	
	Details of the number of new state pension overpayments recorded in each of the last five years, the total amount repaid in each year and the average overpayment in each of those years are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Volume of new overpayments Amounts repaid in year (£ million) Average overpayment (£) 
			 2010-11 233,000 32.1 198 
			 2009-10 368,000 33.6 169 
			 2008-09 456,000 36.8 120 
			 2007-08 466,000 36.3 153 
			 2006-07 440,000 30.4 134 
			 Notes: 1. The volume of new overpayments raised in any particular year could include multiple overpayments incurred by the same customer 2. The volume of new overpayments excludes those classified as not cost-effective to recover (generally those with a value of £65 or less). 3. The average overpayment is calculated by dividing the total value of new debt raised in any one year by the number of new overpayments raised in that year. Source: These figures are from Shared Services' Debt Manager via Business Objects computer system and are subject to rounding. The figures are management information collected for the purpose of routine administration, and therefore have not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance that is applied to DWP official statistics.

Personal Independence Payment

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he has had discussions with representatives of organisations representing people with fibromyalgia on proposals for face-to-face assessments for the personal independence payments scheme.

Maria Miller: Throughout the development of the new personal independence payment we have had extensive discussions and consultation with representatives of organisations representing disabled people and their families, including support groups for individuals with fibromyalgia.
	It is, however, important to the Government's approach that the personal independence payment assessment looks at disabled people as individuals and does not just label them by their health condition or impairment. That's why it is being designed to consider an individual's personal circumstances and the support they need, rather than basing eligibility on a specific medical condition.
	The new assessment better reflects our understanding of disability in the 21st century and will take account of physical, sensory, mental, intellectual and cognitive impairments. This will ensure that support is targeted on those disabled people whose impairments have the greatest impact on their ability to live independent lives. We will continue to work with disabled people and their organisations as the detail of the assessment criteria and its operation is developed and tested. We had many helpful responses to our public consultation from individuals with fibromyalgia and fibromyalgia support groups in Tonbridge, Eastbourne and Surrey and Sussex, and hope to continue to work with a broad range of groups going forwards.

Remploy: Incentives

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what the amounts were of the five largest bonuses paid to Remploy employees in each year since 2005;
	(2)  how much was awarded in bonuses to Remploy employees in each year since 2005.

Maria Miller: The bonus scheme for the 2009-10 performance year and the previous five years was agreed between Remploy and the previous Administration. This Government believe all Departments, including non-departmental public bodies, need to show restraint in the current economic climate and that bonus payments need to better reflect the financial situation, the Government and the NDPB concerned. The Department, therefore, requested that Remploy apply the Government's bonus cap. A recent employment tribunal found that the previous administration's remuneration settlement in respect of commission payments had to be paid for contractual reasons.
	I have instructed Remploy to review their bonus scheme and ensure pay restraint is applied in future years.
	The five largest bonuses paid to Remploy employees for performance in each year since 2005 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 £ 
			  1 2 3 4 5 
			 2005-06 13,283 15,123 15,598 17,604 18,765 
			 2006-07 19,250 19,600 21,302 25,100 25,522 
			 2007-08 21,994 23,288 24,892 31,375 39,067 
			 2008-09 12,000 12,432 12,500 15,000 24,892 
			 2009-10 20,300 26,100 29,500 30,800 35,700 
		
	
	Bonuses awarded to Remploy employees in each year since 2005 are presented in the following table:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2005-06 940,000 
			 2006-07 1,724,000 
			 2007-08 1,788,000 
			 2008-09 682,000 
			 2009-10 1,705,000

Remploy: Incentives

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what bonus payments were made to staff of Remploy in 2010.

Maria Miller: The bonus scheme for the 2009-10 performance year and the previous five years was agreed between Remploy and the previous Administration. This Government believe all Departments, including non-departmental public bodies, need to show restraint in the current economic climate and that bonus payments need to better reflect the financial situation, the Government and the NDPB concerned. The Department, therefore, requested that Remploy apply the Government's bonus cap. A recent employment tribunal found that the previous administration's remuneration settlement in respect of commission payments had to be paid for contractual reasons.
	All public sector bodies are reminded of the need for financial restraint and we have made clear that Remploy executives and managers should reflect this consideration in their pay and bonuses. I have instructed Remploy to ensure pay restraint is applied from here on.
	
		
			   £ 
			 November 2010 Capped payments 1,390,000 
			 January 2011 Balance of payments 315,000 
			 Total  1,705,000 
			 Note:  Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.  Source:  Remploy.

Social Security Benefits

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he intends that the proposed £26,000 benefit cap will be applied in combination with the 13- week rule applied to housing benefit claims.

Steve Webb: We are introducing a cap on the total amount of benefit that working-age people can receive so households on out of work benefits will no longer receive more in benefit than the average weekly wage earned by working families.
	On the cap’s introduction in 2013, we estimate it will be set at £500 per week for couple and single parent households and £350 per week for single adult households without children. This will apply to all new universal credit claims.
	Exemptions from the application of the benefit cap will be set out in regulations following the passage of the Welfare Reform Bill.
	We are currently looking at how universal credit could transitionally protect particularly hard cases.

State Retirement Pensions

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons his planned changes to the pension age begin in 2016 for women and 2018 for men.

Steve Webb: By April 2016, women's state pension age will have risen to 63 under the timetable legislated in 1995. The UK, like all other EU member states, is under an obligation to remove gender inequalities currently present in state pension ages.
	Directive 79/7 prohibits gender discrimination in social security, including state pensions. The directive allows the setting of state pension age to be a limited exception but this should be done in accordance with the principle that member states may only temporarily allow women to retire earlier than men, in order to allow member states to change gradually their pension systems so that equalisation is achieved.
	It has therefore been decided to equalise women's state pension age with men's state pension age before the increase to 66 can take place. This is why our proposed changes begin earlier for women than men.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the number of women he expects to work for longer before reaching pension age in each year from the implementation of those changes.

Steve Webb: I refer the hon. Member to the estimates presented in the equality impact assessment which accompanies the Pensions Bill 2011 (page 40 of Annex A).

Winter Fuel Payments

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the birthday date for qualification for winter fuel allowance will be for (a) men and (b) women in each of the next 15 years.

Steve Webb: The age at which winter fuel payments can be received is increasing in line with the women's state pension age. The qualifying birth dates for each of the next 15 years are in the following table and are the same for men and women.
	
		
			 Winter fuel payment qualifying dates 
			 Winter Must be born on or before this date to qualify 
			 2011-12 5 January 1951 
			 2012-13 5 July 1951 
		
	
	
		
			 2013-14 5 January 1952 
			 2014-15 5 July 1952 
			 2015-16 5 January 1953 
			 2016-17 5 July 1953 
			 2017-18 5 January 1954 
			 2018-19 5 July 1954 
			 2019-20 5 January 1955 
			 2020-21 26 September 1955 
			 2021-22 25 September 1956 
			 2022-23 24 September 1957 
			 2023-24 22 September 1958 
			 2024-25 21 September 1959 
			 2025-26 27 September 1960 
			 Note:  The table is based on state pension age under the current legislated timetable and does not include the proposed changes in the Pensions Bill 2011.

Winter Fuel Payments

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he conducted an equality impact assessment in respect of his decision to increase the qualification age for winter fuel allowance in line with the state pension age.

Maria Miller: The winter fuel payment is a universal benefit and the qualifying age is linked to women's state pension age under existing legislation. The equality impact assessment covering the Social Security (Equalisation of State Pension Age) Regulations 2009 includes the impact on winter fuel payments. A copy of the equality impact assessment was published on 18 June 2009 and can be found at the following link:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/equalisation-state-pension-age.pdf

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel have been recruited to each of the armed forces in each month since the date of the strategic defence and security review; and how many personnel he expects to be recruited to each of the armed forces in each of the next 12 months.

Andrew Robathan: The information requested is presented in the following table.
	
		
			  October 2010 November 2010 December 2010 January 2011 February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 
			 Naval service 304 328 57 199 59 15 3 
			 Army 1,335 989 3 1,375 635 861 759 
			 RAF 148 78 0 160 48 98 104 
		
	
	The naval services have conducted a forecast of recruitment based on the numbers recruited in previous years and this is presented below as an annual figure broken down by officers and other ranks. In the Army and RAF such forecasts are not undertaken however both services have yearly recruitment targets and these are presented as follows.
	
		
			  Number 
			 RN officers 300 
			 RN other ranks/ratings 1,640 
			 Army officers 900 
			 Army other ranks 10,600 
			 RAF officers 230 
			 RAF other ranks 1,640

Armed Forces: Training

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to make a decision on the future of the Defence Technical College; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: The Defence Technical Training Change Programme is currently considering options for the future location or locations of Defence Technical Training. This process is subject to full internal scrutiny and as such a final decision is anticipated before the end of this year.

RAF Menwith Hill

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which companies with headquarters in (a) the UK and (b) the US have received contracts for over £50,000 for work at Menwith Hill in each year since 2008-09.

Nick Harvey: Companies who have received contracts for works in excess of £50,000 at RAF Menwith Hill in each year since 2008-09 are shown in the following tables.
	
		
			 UK Contractors 
			 Contractor Year 
			 Carillion PLC 2008 
			  2009 
			  2010 
			  2011 
			   
			 Alfred McAlpine Building Services 2008 
			   
			 Balfour Beatty Engineering Services Limited 2010 
			  2011 
			   
			 Haden Young Limited 2008 
			  2009 
			  2010 
			  2011 
			   
			 Mott McDonald 2008 
			  2009 
			  2010 
			  2011 
		
	
	
		
			 Scott Wilson 2008 
			  2009 
			  2010 
			  2011 
			   
			 URS 2010 
			  2011 
			   
			 Walter Thompson 2008 
			   
			 Shaylor Construction 2008 
			   
			 Britcon Limited 2008 
			  2009 
			   
			 SGW Construction 2009 
			   
			 Paragon 2008 
			   
			 Wrekin Construction 2008 
			  2009 
			   
			 T Clarke (Electrical) 2008 
			  2009 
			  2010 
			  2011 
			   
			 Nomenca 2011 
			   
			 Ove Arup 2008 
			  2009 
			   
			 Northern Electric Distribution Limited 2010 
			  2011 
			   
			 WYG 2009 
			  2010 
			  2011 
			   
			 IUS 2009 
			   
			 AECOM 2010 
			  2011 
			   
			 Landscape Solutions 2008 
			  2009 
			  2010 
			  2011 
			   
			 DSM Demolition Limited 2009 
			  2010 
		
	
	
		
			 US Contractors 
			 Contractor Year 
			 Northrup Grumman 2008 
			  2009 
			  2010 
		
	
	
		
			  2011 
			   
			 Lockheed Martin 2008 
			  2009 
			  2010 
			  2011 
			   
			 ECC 2010 
			  2011 
		
	
	Details of all new central Government contracts are now available online at:
	www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk

Reserve Forces

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what plans he has to engage with interested parties in his review of the reserve forces;
	(2)  what considerations he gave to synchronising his Department's review of the reserve forces with the Strategic Defence and Security Review;
	(3)  what progress his Department has made on its review of the reserve forces; and on what date the report of the review is to be published.

Andrew Robathan: As part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) announcement on 19 October 2010, the Prime Minister commissioned a six month study into the future role and structure of the Reserves to ensure the most efficient use of Reservists to meet the UK's operational requirements for future conflict. The need for the review flows directly from and forms part of the SDSR.
	The Study is governed by a Reserves Steering Group, led by the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, supported by the hon. Member for Canterbury (Mr Brazier). It incorporates representation from the single Service Chiefs, the key Ministry of Defence principals, Defence's senior Reservist officer (Major General Greg Smith), the Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Association and the National Employers' Advisory Board.
	Throughout, the progress, key decisions and their likely impacts will be communicated widely to the defence community and interested stakeholders, via Defence Internal Briefs and publication of information on the Defence website:
	www.mod.uk/reserves
	A copy of the terms of reference for the Future Reserves 2020 study, which includes the timetable for the study, was placed in the Library of the House in December 2010. I can confirm that the Future Reserves 2020 Study is to conclude in the summer.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Company Liquidations

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses entered into liquidation in England in each of the last five years.

Edward Davey: Official statistics covering corporate insolvencies for England alone are not currently available. Figures are, however, available for England and Wales in total, as shown in Table 1:
	
		
			 Table 1: Total liquidations in England and Wales in the last five years 
			  Total liquidations 
			 2006 13,137 
			 2007 12,507 
			 2008 15,535 
			 2009 19,077 
			 2010 16,045

Departmental Internet

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what expenditure his Department incurred on its website in the latest period for which figures are available; and how many people visited the website in that period.

Edward Davey: Figures for website costs and usage for the BIS website (www.bis.gov.uk) were recently submitted to the Central Office of Information. They cover the 2010-11 financial year.
	Non-staff costs were £372,506. Staff costs for 9.1 full-time equivalents were £263,203, making the total cost £635,709. During this period the content of 12 BIS partner organisation websites was converged onto the BIS web publishing platform, contributing to the costs reported here.
	The site received 3,681,576 unique visitors, who made 6,030,197 visits, resulting in 21,795,586 page views.

Exports: Defence Equipment

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will place in the Library the country by country arms export data for (a) 2008, (b) 2009 and (c) 2010 in the same format as that used for the period from 2000 to 2007.

Mark Prisk: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is responsible for releasing these data on a quarterly and annual basis.
	The data are no longer placed in the Library as they are now readily available via the Strategic Export Controls: Reports and Statistics website at:
	https://www.exportcontroldb.berr.gov.uk/eng/fox/sdb/SDBHOME
	Reports from 2008 onwards are still produced in the same style, compared to 2007, but in line with the Government's commitment to be more transparent and accountable we now provide much more information for each country. Improvements include:
	the goods rating being provided in addition to a summary description of the item, thus giving more information on the type of goods for which a licence has been issued for export to a specified country;
	the values are now broken down to the nearest £ per country and per rating, whereas previous reports gave a total figure for all licences issued for that country rounded to the nearest £0.5 million;
	median processing times are now provided per country, whereas this was not available previously.
	Furthermore the website referred to allows any person either to download reports published on a quarterly/annual basis within the ‘Published Reports’ area of the website (in read only format), or alternatively to register on the website and then produce their own bespoke reports.
	For these reasons the Government do not propose to place this information in the Library in the format requested, as more extensive information is already available to Members of Parliament through the online database.

Green Investment Bank

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 29 March 2011, Official Report, column 304W, on the Green Investment Bank, if he will bring forward the date from which the borrowing powers of the Green Investment Bank may commence.

Mark Prisk: My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer made clear in his Budget statement of 23 March that the Government will enable the Green Investment Bank to borrow from 2015-16 and once the target for debt to be falling as percentage of gross domestic product has been met. We will say more on the bank's operations later this month.

Higher Education: Performance Indicators

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the (a) drop-out and (b) course transfer rate at each university in England was for students starting degrees in (i) 2005, (ii) 2006, (iii) 2007, (iv) 2008, (v) 2009 and (vi) 2010.

David Willetts: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Performance Indicators in Higher Education provide information on drop-out and course transfer rates at institution level for UK-domiciled students.
	HESA produces two indicators which can be used as drop-out rates. Non-continuation considers students who start in a given academic year and identifies whether they are still in higher education one year later, for full-time students, or two years later, for part-time students. Non-completion refers to projected outcomes over a longer period based on the current pattern of students' behaviour. Information on non-continuation, non-completion and course transfer at institution level is available from HESA at this link to their website:
	http://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task =view&id=2064&ltemid=141
	The latest available information is for the 2008/09 academic year. Figures for the 2009/10 academic year will become available from HESA in April 2012. More information on the HESA Performance Indicators in Higher Education is available at:
	http://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php/content/view/2072/141/

Higher Education: Private Sector

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which providers of for-profit higher education services he has met in each of the last six months; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: holding answer 10 May 2011
	the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), and I meet regularly with a wide range of providers of higher education in the UK and internationally. The Department does not hold comprehensive information on whether higher education providers Ministers have met are classed as for-profit or not-for-profit institutions. A quarterly-updated list of all this Department ministerial meetings with external organisations is available at:
	http://data.gov.uk/dataset/disclosure-ministerial-external-meetings-department-for-business

Higher Education: Private Sector

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the drop-out rates were at those for-profit higher education institutions where students received loans via the Student Loans Company but which did not receive other public funding council grants; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: holding answer 10 May 2011
	According to Student Loans Company data, in the 2009/10 academic year, 4,160 higher education students at private higher education institutions were in receipt of student finance. The Department does not hold comprehensive information on whether those private higher education providers are classed as for-profit or not-for-profit institutions, as this does not form part of the designation process. The available data do not allow us to discern whether or not any of these students were in receipt of other public funding council grants.
	Although the Higher Education Statistics Agency recently collected some data on private providers of higher education, the data do not contain the necessary detail to enable the calculation of drop-out rates at these institutions.

Higher Education: Private Sector

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he plans to amend the requirement to renew the grant of degree-awarding powers to private providers of higher education; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: holding answer 9 May 2011
	The future regulatory regime, including the degree awarding powers process for all providers of higher education, will be considered in the forthcoming White Paper. This will set out the Government's proposals to encourage a more diverse and competitive higher education sector alongside an appropriate regulatory regime, which ensures high standards and protects students.

Higher Education: Student Numbers

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his policy is on the core and margin model in relation to student numbers in higher education; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: holding answer 10 May 2011
	Key to driving competition and improving quality and student choice is freeing up the allocation of existing student numbers. Allocating places on a ‘core and margin’ basis is one of the options being considered and will be discussed in the forthcoming higher education White Paper.

London College of Traditional Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many representations he has received on the London College of Traditional Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine since its collapse; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: holding answer 9 May 2011
	Correspondence to the Department is held centrally and indexed by title. These records show that we have had nine representations specifically on this subject. Other correspondence will have mentioned it but, as it is not indexed under this particular title, full details could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Medicine: Education

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effects of the implementation of the Higher Education (Higher Amount) (England) Regulations 2010 on the number of graduate entry medical students; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: The Department has made no specific assessment of the effects of the Higher Education (Higher Amount) (England) Regulations 2010 at subject level. We are working with the Department of Health to consider the impact on medical students. The Departments have a shared responsibility for providing student support for graduate entry medical students.

Medicine: Education

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether graduate entry medical students will be required to cover the cost of their tuition fees for the first year of study in academic year 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: Tuition fee support is currently not available for year one of a graduate entry medical course and this will remain the case in 2012/13. Graduate entry medical students can apply for a maintenance loan, supplementary grants and disabled students allowances for their first year from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and a reduced level maintenance loan for the duration of their course, but receive no other support. From year two of the course responsibility for providing support is shared with the Department of Health which currently provides support for tuition fees, a means tested NHS bursary and supplementary grants and allowances.

North Sea Oil

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on what dates he met ministerial colleagues in HM Treasury to discuss the implications for investment in North Sea oil and gas fields of proposed changes to taxation.

Mark Prisk: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State meets Treasury Ministers frequently and they discuss a wide range of government policy areas of mutual interest.

North Sea Oil

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on the implications for investment in North Sea oil and gas fields of changes to taxation.

Mark Prisk: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State meets the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change frequently and they discuss a wide range of government policy areas of mutual interest.

Oil

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the policy of UK Trade and Investment is on support for UK-based companies that develop and export tar sands oil extraction technologies.

Mark Prisk: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) treats UK-based companies with specialist technology relevant to oil sands in the same way as any other company in the oil and gas supply chain. The full range of UKTI services are available to all UK-based companies engaged in oil and gas extraction regardless of the nature of the project.

Professional Development Loans

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the withdrawal of professional development loans by retail banks; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: The supply of professional development loans by retail banks is a matter for those banks.
	Neither the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), nor I have therefore discussed the matter with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne).
	Retail banks do deliver the professional and career development loans (PCDLs) scheme on behalf on the Department. There are no plans to withdraw this scheme.

Regional Growth Fund

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what criteria will be used to assess the (a) viability and (b) efficacy of Round 2 bids for the Regional Growth Fund in (i) the East of England and (ii) England; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Prisk: The criteria for the second round for assessing projects are the same as the first round and this applies to bids from all over England. To qualify for support from the Regional Growth Fund, projects should demonstrate that they:
	create additional sustainable private sector growth;
	rebalance the economy in those areas currently dependent on the public sector;
	would not otherwise go ahead without support from the Regional Growth Fund;
	offer value for money; and
	be state aid compliant.

Royal Mail

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has for the future of the phantom share element of Royal Mail's Colleague Shares scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Davey: Colleague Share is an incentive scheme set up in 2007 by Royal Mail and as such is an operational matter for the company.
	The scheme, which is expected to have paid out £2,200 to most members by the time various operational targets are met, will close in March 2012. After this date, it is for Royal Mail to decide whether to introduce further employee incentive schemes and the form of those schemes.
	Separately, as part of the provisions in the Postal Services Bill, the Government will make available shares to employees upon the first sale of Royal Mail shares.

Technology Strategy Board: Finance

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the core budget for the Technology Strategy Board was for each of the last three years; what that budget will be for each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: holding answer 10 May 2011
	The Technology Strategy Board's core budget was £193 million in 2008/09, £253 million in 2009/10, and £263 million in 2010/11, as announced in the 2007 spending review.
	The Technology Strategy Board's core budget for 2011/12 is £317 million, which includes funding for Technology and Innovation Centres and to deliver a national Grant for Research and Development (R&D) scheme. I cannot be specific on future year allocations, but it will be of the order £300 million per annum resulting in support worth over £1 billion in business led R&D over the spending review period.

Trade: Developing Countries

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent progress he has made on the Doha round; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Davey: Concluding the Doha round in 2011 is the UK's top overarching trade priority. Negotiations are currently at an impasse over industrial tariff cuts. We are pushing the key players to show the leadership and flexibility needed to conclude the round this year.

World Intellectual Property Organisation: Visual Impairment

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will make it his policy to support the adoption of the legally binding treaty for the visually impaired and other print-disabled persons at the World Intellectual Property Organisation; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Davey: Of the four proposals currently in front of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), two are for legally-binding treaties, and two are for non-binding recommendations to WIPO member states. No single document has so far gained consensus from all WIPO members. The European Union leads negotiations at WIPO on behalf of its member states, including the UK, and supports a non-binding approach. The UK is receptive to any reasonable way forward that will make a real difference to the lives of visually impaired people.